


Mass Effect: Rapture

by Weskron



Series: Mass Effect: Rapture Saga [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Children, Custom Commander Shepard, Dimension Travel, F/F, F/M, Fanservice, Fluff, Genre Twist, Love Letter to Mass Effect, Major Original Character(s), Minor Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Paragon Commander Shepard, Plot Twists, Post-Reaper War, Reapers, Rebellion, Revolution, Romance, Science Fiction, Serious, Shepard Survives, Time Travel, War, War Crimes, genre change, major plot twists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 05:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4593939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weskron/pseuds/Weskron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after The Reaper War, Commander Shepard cheats death once more after being brought back to life by the Systems Alliance. Upon his return, he finds a galaxy embroiled in a civil war with the Terminus Systems that seems to have muddied and dark origins. So now, donning his armor again, Commander Shepard looks to save the galaxy from itself one last time. But things may not be what they seem as Shepard finds himself facing down the ultimate end of the galaxy once again and races against time to stop anything from coming to pass.  (AU, Shepard x Tali)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Third Chance

**Author's Note:**

> My name’s Sam. There’s a lot to say. So let’s get started. I write fanfiction. I write other things too, but today, I’ll focus on this fanfiction. As you can see by my profile, my favorite video game series is the Mass Effect series. And I even have proof of this, since I’ve written more stories for Mass Effect than any other fandom. I initially wrote this story with a generic premise in mind. One last adventure for Commander Shepard and at the end it would be all friendly and happy. It bored me. Too safe. All of my writing has been too safe.
> 
> I posted this chapter up months and months ago. It sat there with a half-completed second chapter, just waiting to be updated. Even though it was only one chapter, it did receive a surprising amount of feedback for a first chapter. I knew I could do something with it. I knew.
> 
> So after committing to write two series, along with my Spider-Man fanfics – Origin of the Species – I thought long and hard about a story I would like to write. Maybe something new? Something different? I came up with ideas pertaining to that. I’ll get to them one day. But none of them grabbed me.
> 
> So I looked through my old stuff to maybe gain a spark. And there I came across the tons and tons of notes I had written down for Mass Effect: Rapture. I had some interesting ideas, some that I wanted to elaborate on. So I took those ideas and put them into a new story, but I couldn’t bring myself to write down the words. So I thought… maybe combine the two? Make the ultimate Mass Effect story with all of my ideas, all of my inspiration, all of the things I’ve wanted to write about, and most importantly, all my love for it.
> 
> Mass Effect changed my life for the better. I mean this legitimately. I could go into why and how, but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that it happened and I am now a different person with different values and ideals. But, in the end, I need to move on. Like how Mass Effect Andromeda will not be focusing on Shepard any longer, I shouldn’t either. So I intend this fanfic to be one of, if not the, final story I write about Commander Shepard.
> 
> So, this is intended to be my greatest work. Not just in fanfiction, but in general. My love letter to Mass Effect and Commander Shepard. I dedicate this to my mom who has always supported me through thick and thin.
> 
> Enjoy.

_ Vocal key is required. _

_Welcome Councilman, how can I help you today?_

_Commander Sam Shepard… bringing up file now…_

Name: Samuel Shepard.  
Rank: Commander.  
Race: Human.  
Age when MIA: Twenty-nine.  
Gender: Male.  
Date of Birth: April 11th, 2154.  
Hometown: Vancouver, Canada.  
Height: 6’2”  
Weight: 219 lbs.  
Family Status: Orphan.

Status: MIA.  
Origin: Colonist  
Reputation: War Hero.  
Occupation: Spectre, Alliance Operative.  
Class: Soldier.

Choices:  
-Spared Fist.  
-Spared the colonists on Feros.  
-Spared the Rachni Queen on Noveria.  
-Aided Gianna Parasini on Noveria.  
-Encouraged Garrus to be more paragon.  
-Helped Tali with her personal pilgrimage.  
-Spared Rana Thanoptis.  
-Rescued Kaidan Alenko.  
-Spared Wrex during the Virmire mission.  
-The Council was saved.  
-Saved the hostages and did not kill Balak.  
-Did not punch Khalisah al-Jilani.  
-Accepted reinstatement as a Spectre.  
-Prevented Tali’s exile.  
-Kept the graybox.  
-Defeated the Shadow Broker.  
-Ended Project Overlord.  
-Completed Operation Firewalker.  
-Stopped the Arrival.  
-All squad members and crewmates survived the Suicide Mission.  
-Saved Maelon’s Genophage data.  
-Heretic geth were destroyed.  
-Killed Morinth.  
-Destroyed the Collector Base.  
-Diana Allers joined the crew.  
-Jack’s students were used as support troops.  
-The Rachni Queen was saved once again.  
-Samara did not commit suicide.  
-The Volus Fleet joined Shepard’s cause.  
-Omega’s reactor was slowly rerouted.  
-Oleg Petrovsky was shot in the head.  
-Exposed the Dalatrass’ plan and secured Krogan support.  
-Saved both the Quarians and the Geth.  
-Maya Brooks was taken into custody.  
-Shepard had an energetic party, which died down into a quiet one.  
-Shepard destroyed the Reapers.

_Are you sure you want to mark Commander Samuel Shepard as deceased?_

_Confirmed._

_Logging you out, Councilman Wrex._

~X~

There aren’t many times Sam Shepard has woken up in his life and things have been peaceful. Mostly, he wakes up with his heart beating a hundred beats a minute, sweat coating his brow as he wonders if it really was all a dream. If there was something his mind was trying to tell him. He’ll usually always begin every day that way, following that up with a cup of tea and relaxing on the couch, doing something menial like playing games or whatever else he felt like doing at the time.

“SHEPARD! G-”

And when Shepard was shaken and bumped around on his bed, it became clear this was going to be one of those days.

The first thing that came to were Shepard’s eyes, which peeled themselves open only to be met with a blinding, flickering light that seemed to sway up above him. The next was his hearing, which was almost too much, as the pops of booming enveloped his ears as if they were being dipped into water. His taste, his sense of smell, everything else came to him all in a flurry as he was flung off of his cot and onto the cold, steel floor, the feeling of pain returning to him at once.

“Kckngh…” Shepard gurgled out something as he felt a needle break off in his arm as the tube it was attached to was crushed under his weight. The IV apparatus attached to him clinked onto the floor as his mass pulled the wire down with him.

The Commander pushed his weight up and his other hand reached to his arm, yanking the broken needle out of his flesh and feeling the warm blood trickle down over his skin. He was able to get into a sitting position as he observed his surroundings.

Things had quieted down for a moment, the booms had stopped and he saw the hospital room he was in thrown about, his bed laying on its side and fluid pooling on the ground somewhere near him. The air was crisp and thin, like any space station, but it felt more hostile this time, more energetic than it usually does. A lamp swung around above him, the bulb flickering such as to warn any occupiers that it’ll break soon. The dim light glinted off of the metal floors and furniture, reflecting against the window that just showed a more chaotic scene out in the hallway.

A profound sense of a déjà vu overcame him as he got to his feet, shaking ever so slightly. All he needed was a cold Aussie woman screaming at him to get up. Except there wasn’t. This wasn’t Cerberus. He knew that as his eyes glanced over to the logo plastered on his wall. This was a Systems Alliance base and he knew that for damn sure.

Shepard looked across the room at the poor soul who tried to warn him of the attack, a guard, who must have tried to get to him before someone else did, but the shock of the blast seemed to have killed him, as his neck was turned in a way it shouldn’t be. The Commander was definitely no stranger to death, but despite his exposure, it didn’t make it any easier to see another servicemen dead at his feet. He saw too many for one lifetime during the push in London.

But his survival instincts took over at this point and he rushed the corpse, pulling the body roughly until another quake overwhelmed the station, and Shepard’s footing was lost as the ground’s shaking became violent. He fell right on top of the corpse and rolled around with it for a bit until the short explosion had stopped. At that point, he went into overdrive, and ripped the armor off the body as fast as he possibly could, pulling it over his own body in record time. As he went, he picked the M-3 Predator pistol off the ground and inspected it before holstering it.

As the hardened soldier made his way out the door and started down the hallway, he thought about his last memories. He remembered Earth, his final push against The Reapers with the love of his life and best friend, Tali and Garrus by his side. He remembered Anderson and himself sharing a final moment after The Illusive Man killed himself. He remembered the Star Child… he remembered destroying The Reapers. And that’s where it goes blank. He must have been in a coma; he does know that an explosion went off after he fired off several shots into The Crucible. But for how long? Where exactly is he? What’s happening to the base I’m in right now?

And as he turns a corner, he gets an idea of the answer to the last question as a gunshot reverberates off the walls and into his ears. He skids to a stop and crouches down low next to a wall, the sounds of yelling and gunfire following him.

Some force has invaded the base. The explosions are most likely coming from outside in space or possibly coming from the base itself.

He looks down the hallway he would have run through, seeing an opening into a larger room, and what seems to be a gunfight happening right in front of his eyes. He can’t tell exactly where the enemy’s coming from his current position, but he can tell that some of the yelling isn’t from a human, so whatever army or force that’s invading the base is of an alien origin. And that was pretty much confirmed when a Batarian, coming from the left, takes cover right next to the entrance of the hallway, ducking his head low.

And Shepard has a straight shot at him.

So, with the fluidity of someone who has seen as much combat as Shepard, he whips out his predator and fires a straight shot into the Batarian’s forehead, taking him out of the picture entirely. His first kill of the day. Wonderful.

Commander Shepard books it down the passageway and slides into cover next to the alien’s dead body, his pistol already locked, loaded, and aimed straight at the attackers, popping heads one by one.

“Sh-Shepard…!?” An officer exclaims from his right, and after a few moments that same officer pipes up again, “Shepard’s awake! Now’s our chance! Push!”

A torrent of gunfire erupts from the right, mowing down the alien intruders one by one, their exo-blood splattering against the virgin walls with every well-aimed shot. Shepard’s pistol fire joins in with the rest as he takes out a couple of intruders.

“Retreat!” A Batarian screams as he and his men tuck their tail between their legs and rush back through the doorway of the room, closing it behind themselves.

Shepard shoots off a few more shots, but when they’re out of sight, he lets out all the pent up breath inside him and stands up from cover. Counting the bodies, he realizes at least half of them weren’t Batarian. Some were Vorcha. Some were Quarian. What the hell was going on?

Almost immediately, a Systems Alliance soldier patters up to him, saluting.

“Commander! You’re awake! Corporal Marcus Johnson.”

He nods at him curtly, “At ease. Let’s make this quick. What’s the situation?”

Johnson takes a few moments to answer, “That’s going to be hard to explain quickly.”

“Try.”

“Commander, while you’ve been under, after the reformation period ended in about half a year, the galaxy got into a Civil War with most of the races of the Terminus Systems. This is an attack by them on this station, which is called The Pride.

Shepard was speechless for a number of reasons. He gulped down some built up bile in his mouth and rubbed his stubble, which had turned into mostly a beard at this point.

“First… how long have I been comatose?”

“You weren’t exactly comatose. You were dead for all intents and purposes. But since you were mostly intact, it wasn’t hard to… bring you back to life, per say.”

“Jesus Christ. Again. Tell me how long.”

“About three years, Commander.”

His knees began to buckle. He was already near a wall, but now he decided to lean against it. Thoughts turned over and over in his head. Three years. He remembered hearing news like this before, from Jacob, a long while ago. It wasn’t any easier now. It doesn’t matter how many times you hear that you’ve been gone for a long time. It always shocks.

“Three years.”

“I understand this must be difficult to hear, Commander.”

“Three years.”

“Are you okay?”

Shepard shook his head. Thoughts of Anderson, Tali, Garrus, Kaidan, all of his friends rushed back into his mind at once at the mention of three years. However, he pushed it all out of his mind. It wasn’t time to be sentimental. It was time for war.

“Civil War with the Terminus. There are a lot of questions just about that as well but I’ll save ‘em for later. Right now, you tell me where I need to go to finish the fight.”

The soldier smiled slightly, “You know, you’re as cool as they say you are,” but with the determined stare of the Commander boring into his very soul, the soldier cleared his throat, “We’re pinned down in three locations. This was one of them. The others are located just below us and the other one is at the very bottom of the station, in the main hall where civvies come in.”

“How do I get to the bottom?”

“There’s an elevator over there, but it’s out of commission for now. You’re going to have to go down through the station. We’re on floor fifteen about now so you have a bit of bulk to get through.”

Shepard closed his eyes for a moment and files through some strategies he can go through. When he thought he found a good plan, he opens his eyes, “Tell the other men to head down to the second point and flank the intruders. Johnson, you’re with me.”

“All right, I-wait. Sorry. Say that one more time?” Johnson’s eyes widen slightly.

Shepard began to walk off to the cache, but takes a moment to look back to point at him, “I said you’re with me! Get your gear and then meet me at the elevator!”

“Um… okay.” Johnson scurried off to go tell the men the orders the Commander gave them and they file in and head off to the next checkpoint.

Shepard rummages through the stack of weapon as he tries to kick negative thoughts out of his mind. He’s never fought well when his minds on other things. When he was first falling in love with Tali, he had to have the rest of his team carry him through a couple of missions, just cause she was all he thought about. Hell, he wouldn’t let her fight for a little while, and they got into a few fights about that.

After shaking the bad thoughts out of his head, he takes a trusty M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle, an M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle, a Grenade Launcher, and an M-23 Katana shotgun. He gives them a quick inspection and then meets Johnson by the elevator door, who is fidgeting with his armor in the meantime.

“All right. You ready?” After the corporal nods, he glances at the doors, “Stand back.”

The soldier does as he’s told and Shepard, taking a few steps back himself, pulls out his grenade launcher and shoots a round into the door, blowing them wide open. Johnson covers his face, but when the dust settles, he just stares bewilderingly at the Commander.

“We’re going to climb down.”

“Um… have you done this before?”

Shepard just nods as he heads toward the large hole in the doors, “Plenty times. Let’s go.”

Johnson watches as Shepard grabs onto the ladder next to the door inside the shaft and begins to climb down. The corporal follows suit hesitantly, but he knows how to follow orders, so he does as told without complaint. And hell, he knows better than to question the guy who saved the galaxy three times over. He probably knows what he’s doing. Probably.

Shepard heads steadily down the ladder, coughing once or twice on the dusty air. He couldn’t tell if it was soot from an explosion or if it was just dirt, but it was definitely present all around him.

He was a little surprised at himself. He didn’t feel tired. He didn’t feel like his head’s not in the game. That’s probably the biggest difference from this instance than the Cerberus one, that he felt completely normal. Most likely because he wasn’t rebuilt from what was basically hardened ashes this time around.

“You good up there?” Shepard checked in on his fellow soldier.

Johnson stopped to answer him, “Uh. Yeah. Arms are getting a little tired.”

“Mine too. We should be-”

And that’s when the doors right next to them opened up. And peeking through to see what’s up were two Batarians, one with his helmet on and another with a bandana on his forehead. When their eyes met, it felt like they were waiting there for a full minute before someone made a move, but it was more like a second than a minute.

“Humans! Get them!”

“Oh shit.”

Shepard swung his body back sharply and then toward the attackers, grabbing the chestplate of the helmeted attacker as he fell down, pulling him onto the ground and using him as a ledge to grab onto as his legs dangled above what seemed to be a fifty plus foot drop.

“Get off! Shoot ‘im! Shoot the damn human! Agh!”

The Commander’s eyes darted around as the Batarian struggled to shake him off, but he couldn’t find something immediate to grab onto. All he saw was a barrel of a shotgun. And that might’ve been the last thing he ever saw again but Johnson came flying from above, tackling the Batarian with the bandana straight off the ledge and into the shaft below.

“NO!”

But it was too late. The two figures yelled until they faded off into the distance. Shepard angrily grabbed onto the Batarian’s helmet and pulls himself onto the body of the Batarian, grabbing his pistol and rolling into the hallway, shooting him in the back of the head and watched him drop into the shaft along with Johnson and the others. Shepard cursed again and again; slamming the butt of his pistol onto the ground.

“Damn it! Damn it!” Shepard gritted his teeth as he stood up. His eyes went to the number of the floor and found he was right above the main hall. “Bastards. Goddamn bastards!”

He had been back for little over an hour at this point and already someone young and undeserving died around him. He could have gone on to become a father or even a grandfather. He could have become the most important general in the galaxy, but no, now Johnson is only known as the young hero who sacrificed himself to save him. So many have already done that. He didn’t need to as well. Damn it.

Shepard holstered his gun and pulled out his shotgun, walking straight into the staircase. He stomped downstairs and opened the door to see a gunfight happening to the left of him. And instead of finding a different route to take or a position to flank them, he just walked straight down the main hallway to the Alliance barricade, taking potshots at the invaders.

“Who the hell’s leading you, huh!? Whose the goddamn bastard that’s leading all the rest of you goddamn bastards!?” Shepard keeps firing off shots until he gets to the barricade. A lot of the soldiers are in awe that he’s alive, but they just keep firing.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!”

A distinctly Batarian voice from behind the invading force at the main doorway into the hangars rung out through the hall. Everyone eventually stops firing at the sound of it, but Shepard just vaults over the barricade and walks right into the middle of the hall, shotgun on his shoulder.

“Commander Shepard?”

“Right here. Who the hell are you?” Shepard cocks his shotgun.

The Batarian stepped out from his troops, standing at the forefront, looking down upon Shepard. He wore dark grey armor with a red design on it, a helmet with a white skull overlay on it, and had two heavy gauntlets typical of the famed Batarian Brawlers. He holstered his shotgun next to his assault rifle and sword as he stared down upon The Commander.

“Back from the dead again, eh? Only fitting you don’t recognize this voice, Commander. I wouldn’t expect any more of you.”

Shepard took a moment to search through his memories. He recognized the armor, the way the man moved…

And then it came to him. The mercenary that came after him after he dealt with Sovereign. On Illium. He captured Tali.

“Spartan. You’re Spartan.”

“Heh. So you do recognize me, Commander.”

Shepard’s guard is let down slightly, “What the hell are you doing here? You’re leading this invasion?”

“You’ve been gone a while, Commander. Things have changed. I’ve become a hero to my people. I’ve become a hero to all races of the Terminus.”

Shepard scoffed, “Hero? Hero!? You’re nothing but a mercenary! A terrorist!”

One of his men’s voices is barked out through the crowd, “He’s not a terrorist! Shut up!”

“At ease, soldier,” Spartan gives a hand gesture, “You see… I am what I claim, Commander. But what are you? Just a-

_KRAKOW!_

Spartan ducked down and narrowly avoided a shotgun blast. Shepard, aiming down his sights, snarled.

“Shut up.”

Spartan growled, “Fire at will!”

The mercenary began to rush down toward Shepard, pulling out his sword from his waist. He opened the fight with a downward slice, which Shepard blocked with his shotgun. The two growled in each other’s faces before Spartan smashed his shoulder into his chest, knocking him back a few feet.

“Hragh!”

Spartan began a series of sword slashes as bullets fly over their heads toward both of their opposing forces. Shepard continued blocking his attacks before spinning around, using his hips to whack the Batarian’s arm away, then smashed the butt of his gun into the Batarian’s side.

“Agh!”

Spartan retaliated with a sharp punch to Shepard’s jaw and then followed up with a snap kick to Shepard’s stomach. The soldier stumbled back and narrowly dodged a sword slice across his chest, which grazed his armor, leaving a long and narrow scratch and swiping the shotgun out of Shepard’s hands. And finally, to end the combo, he takes one rolling savate kick, sending Shepard flying into some furniture.

“You’re pathetic. You at least gave me a fight before!”

“I’m not looking to fight.”

Shepard kicked his legs back and into the air, and then pushed himself up into the air, executing a kip up onto his feet. This sudden move surprised Spartan, leaving him open enough for Shepard to give him a hard superman punch and then sends his other arm’s elbow straight into Spartan’s chest. He spun out of the attacks and then tackles Spartan through the air and into the edge of some furniture. Shepard rolls off of him and onto the seat, leaving Spartan on the top of the couch.

“I’m looking… to kill you,” Shepard growled his words out, getting up onto his knees.

“Hrgh!”

Spartan rolled over Shepard and wrapped his arms around Shepard’s waist from behind, deadlifting him into the air and suplexing him straight through the glass table next to the couch.

“GRRAAHHH!”

Shepard yelled in pain as the glass slashed the skin on his head and hands up, his blood splashing over the floor and the remaining glass pieces. He grunted and whimpered in pain as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, the shards digging farther into his skin. He continued to struggle to breathe as Spartan stood up.

“That’s too bad, Shepard. I’m not dying yet. Now that you’re alive? You and me have a lot of unfinished business.”

Spartan leaned down, grabbing Shepard’s head as he dragged him out of the glass and onto the floor, landing a right straight punch on his face.

“Do you remember what I said all those years ago? Huh? I told you I’d ruin your life just like you did mine. I won’t stop. I will destroy everything you hold dear. I promised.”

Shepard bared his teeth, “And I told you to fuck off.”

_BLAM!_

“AGH!” Spartan yelps as he feels a shot tear through his side. He looked down to find Shepard’s pistol lying in wait. Shepard uses all of the momentum he can muster to pull back and release a hard strike into Spartan’s head, knocking him to the floor.

As this happened, the soldiers from the first and second checkpoint began to file in, letting down a barrage of shots toward the enemy, pushing them back further and further.

“Rggh!”

Spartan crawled up the ramp as gunfire bounces off around him. Quickly, his soldiers lay down covering fire as medics attend to him.

“I’m not done, Shepard. I’ll make… ngh… sure we’ll meet again. I promised.”

Spartan is dragged off through the doors to the hangar and quickly, his troops retreat with him. Soon enough, their ships began to fly out of the base, and the turrets were able to pick off a few of them.

“Hngh…”

Shepard stood up, blood dripping from his wounds as the entire place erupted in a cheer and surrounded their Commander. Congratulations and yells of admiration came from all sides, but Shepard was only focused on how Spartan had left. On how Spartan’s coming after him. On how he’s been gone for several years. On…

~X~

And on Rannoch, someone in their house they took a year to build is watching the vids of the attack on Base Pride on her omni tool, when she sees a familiar face come out through the crowd of Alliance soldiers.

A face she had been wishing would come back to her every single night and morning for three years. A face she had been aching to see every single time she even thought of him. A face she loved more than anything in the galaxy.

And without any words, she stood up and ran out the door.

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Rage Against the Dying of the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do not go gentle into that good night,  
> Old age should burn and rave at close of day;  
> Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
> 
> Though wise men at their end know dark is right,  
> Because their words had forked no lightning they  
> Do not go gentle into that good night.
> 
> Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright  
> Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,  
> Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
> 
> Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,  
> And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,  
> Do not go gentle into that good night.
> 
> Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight  
> Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,  
> Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
> 
> And you, my father, there on the sad height,  
> Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.  
> Do not go gentle into that good night.  
> Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

_Beeep… Beeep… Beeep…_

Voices and sounds of celebration crept into the room, invading the undisturbed silence and the shadows. LED lights glowed dimly in the darkness, illuminating a still hospital bed and a man sitting by it in a chair. Only the sound of breathing was present in this room. The hospital bed once taken up by Shepard himself now laid the half-dead body of Corporal Marcus Johnson. And Commander Shepard, who stares at the floor blankly, now inhabited the chair. He fiddled with his hands, thoughts taking up the spaces in the heavy air of the room.

There were a few things that kept getting turned over and over in his head until he was going through the same thoughts again and again. When they fought off the invaders, Shepard sat down with a few soldiers and some other people to find out what had gone on in the galaxy during his second absence. What he found wasn’t exactly easy to hear.

After the Reapers were destroyed, all technology derived from the Reapers shut off all of a sudden. Hundreds of thousands of people died then because of oxygen systems and ships being shut off, but the majority of people were saved by the act. It took about a year and a half to get most technology up and running again, which turned out to be not too difficult. This period of time was known as The Galactic Collapse and was a very dark time.

Then there began a reformation period that’s still going on to this day, but the majority of the rebuilding of governments and social hierarchies took place in the next six months, and the Citadel was opened to the public once more after repairs and cleanup.

After the Quarians and Geth reconciled because of the actions Shepard took, finally after hundreds of years of conflict, the two races joined together and now reside under one banner – The United Rannoch Republic (URR). The Turian Hierarchy began a close union with the Krogans after their work on Palaven, whose clans were united unto one government, The Krogan Empire led by Emperor Wrex, who was given a seat on the Council for his people’s efforts during The Reaper War. The Asari’s numbers have dropped considerably after The Fall of Thessia and they are still attempting to rebuild and are looking for alternative worlds to colonize in the meantime. The Salarians were better off than many other races as their homeworlds were never attacked, but most of their colonies had been destroyed. And the humans had been put in a place of much higher power as one of their own, Shepard himself, had saved the galaxy from an ancient threat and sacrificed his life once more for the lives of everyone now and to come. However, they suffered considerable losses after The Reaper’s attack on Earth, and are currently rebuilding. Many humans also began a new religion that has become extremely popular in the last few years known as The Shepard’s Way, where the belief is that Commander Shepard was the messiah himself and was the eternal guardian of the universe meant to be worshipped and his tale preserved.

The Council reformed and publicly addressed the galaxy and its tenants, talking of the sacrifice Shepard made and the struggle to make the people whole again will be long but prosperous. And while the Krogans were acknowledged for their actions… other races were not. And many felt that was an act of stupidity as the Batarians in particular suffered heavy, heavy losses because of The Arrival and because of them pledging their troops to Shepard’s cause. The Council also outraged the Batarians because of the support for The Shepard’s Way as they thought Shepard was a blasphemous soldier who should be tried for war crimes against their race.

This led to the Batarians and the Council getting into many squabbles that eventually culminated in the race stating the Council was an official enemy of theirs and cutting off contact. What the Council did not know was during this period of non-communication; the Batarians rallied all non-council races to take power as the Council refuses to give it to them. The Vorcha, many Quarians, many Geth, many non-Council colonies, many pirates, many bandits, etc. joined their cause, forming into what became to be known as The Coalition.

In particular a man who had helped rebuild a lot of the Terminus and led many into rallies against the council had become the poster boy of The Coalition, known by his codename – Spartan.

The conflict began when Orion Station near the border of the Terminus Systems was attacked and hundreds of soldiers and innocent people were executed on a live broadcast, where Spartan himself declared war on The Council, thus beginning The Terminus Rebellion.

This was their second offensive operation in the war. Shepard was there to stop them and many owe their lives to him.

He was getting tired of hearing that. He didn’t want people to be put in that situation in the first place. He didn’t want to have to save anyone. But here he is once more sitting in a hospital room, waiting to be called to action. And he will go without question. Because he’s Commander Shepard. And his job is to be a hero.

When he asked about some of his allies, many didn’t know the answers, as finding out about other people who aren’t family or friends was difficult during this time of reformation. All they really knew was that Emperor Wrex was now a council member, Garrus Vakarian became a prominent general of the Turian army and has been extremely helpful to other council races in reforming, and Kaidan Alenko spoke at Shepard’s funeral. No one knew Shepard was in the process of being resurrected.

“Commander Sam Shepard? Are you in there?” A few knocks accompany a somewhat obnoxious voice he does in fact recognize. He couldn’t put a name to it, but it sounds familiar at the very least.

Shepard’s head pops up, letting loose a few strangled sounds of recognition while he tries to find his voice, “Yep. Yeah. I’ll be right there.”

The Commander stands up and stretches as if he just woke up from a long nap. Something he probably should’ve been doing but he was unable to in light of recent events. And hell, he’s done enough of lying down with his eyes closed. Five years worth.

The door opens a bit abrasively and a small drone floats inside, keeping a constant line of sight with the soldier who stood by the hospital bed, cocking his head to the left. But before he could even form a question in his head, a dark-skinned woman charges into the blackness, letting out her strong voice.

“Commander Shepard. Khalisah al-Jilani of Westerlund News. I’m here to ask you a few questions, do you have the… hm? What’s going on?”

Shepard stood there with his mouth wide open, staring at the reporter. He was right. He did, in fact, recognize the voice. But never in a million years did he expect the first person to meet him after his second return from the dead to be Khalisah al-Jilani, the reporter he once considered punching in the face because of her stupid, stupid questions. While they did reconcile during the Reaper War, they still weren’t anything even close to friends. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to blow up in anger at the cruelty of the world; the fact that it wasn’t one of his friends or the love of his life who smashed through that door like a freight train, but her. But instead, he laughed. He laughed with his whole body. Maybe out of stress or maybe he really did find things that funny.

“Wh-what’s so funny?” Khalisah was taken aback by his sudden outburst.

“Life, Ms. al-Jilani. Life,” Shepard sniggers, “You wanted an interview? Come. Sit next to me.”

Shepard sits back down on his chair and pats the one next to him. Khalisah tentatively accepts his invitation, taking the seat while her droid got a good shot on both of them, having to turn up the lighting on the camera to get a full form of the commander.

“Is this thing live?”

“Yes. It’s going right now. You’re being broadcast across the entire galaxy. You still didn’t answer my initial question. What is this?”

“It isn’t a what, Ms. al-Jilani. It’s a young man. His name was Corporal Marcus Johnson of Pride Station. He has two siblings and one living parent. Born twenty years ago nearly one month ago. Studying to major in English while doing service for his country. Nearly killed himself while saving my life,” Shepard’s voice is nearly monotone as he recites the information he had been going through over and over and over again for hours.

“I… hm. I’m sorry, Shepard. I was unaware.”

“This person, who I did not know, died for my sake. As have so many others. So, so many others. And… you know what? The people I don’t know? That’s easy to deal with. They’re just faces in a crowd. I never knew them. But the people who are close to you, the people you know personally, when they die… that’s when it gets to you. It gets to even me. I’ve watched a lot of friends die during my service. Too many.”

“But do you understand how many lives you’ve saved?” Khalisah asks, her gaze locked on Shepard.

He took a moment and then answered, “Not enough.”

“So, Shepard, the entire galaxy is waiting to know what you have to say to them after The Reaper War, after witnessing the events of the Galactic Civil War firsthand, after everything that’s transpired, what can you say to the people?”

“What can I say to the people?”

With a short nod from the reporter, he continued, “Go home to your families. Tell them you love them. Be a good person in general, it goes a long way during times like these. I lost the person I called my father and some of my best friends in that godforsaken war. Be grateful for what you have as small or as large as it may be, because it may not always be there.”

“Can I have a word on-“

“Shepard?” Two hard knocks came from the door and another much more familiar voice came to them, causing the Commander’s head to pop up with anticipation.

“Sorry, Ms. al-Jilani, but I should go. A friend is here,” cutting her off from any further questions; Shepard stands up up and rushes to the door, whipping it wide open to see the grizzled, old face of Admiral Hackett, an old mentor to him.

“Sam,” Hackett smiles widely and the two shake hands, pulling each other into a one armed hug.

“Hackett,” Shepard pulled away and smiled at the old man, closing the door behind him, leaving the reporter to recap what she saw and heard to her viewers inside, “It’s good to see you. So good. How are you?”

The admiral shakes his head, “You don’t need to know about me. I’m not important. How are you after your second comeback?”

“Ah, I see it’s common knowledge now,” Shepard chuckles a little bit, “Well, I’m better than I thought I would be. The second time around wasn’t nearly as shocking as the first.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

They began to walk down the hallway, a few soldiers and medical personnel rushing past them, “How are the crew of the Normandy? What happened to them while I was gone?”

“A lot, Commander. I’m unsure of some of their statuses. As you can imagine, in this dark period, it’s been harder to track down our own than usual,” they turn a corner, “I can only tell you what you probably already know.”

“Anything about Tali?” Shepard asks immediately, the two stopping as they come to the end of the hallway.

“After the war, she was stuck on Earth for a while recovering from injuries, but then she returned to Rannoch. Built a house there and has been living there ever since. Apparently is one of the Fleet Admirals at present,” Hackett takes a moment to speak, “Shepard, I understand you want to go home to Tali, but we have pressing matters we have to attend to.”

“Like what?”

“We will let you go home to spend some time with Tali, but I need your commitment that before that you will help lead a naval assault on their forces and after that you will help finish this rebellion. I have an entire legion of press on me waiting to hear your answer,” Hackett laid out all of the cards and Shepard stood there with a hard expression on his face.

War. More war. Shepard had grown to hate the word. But at the same time, his entire life, he had one passion and that was to protect this galaxy and his people from any threat they asked him to. He had done so. And now, faced with a choice, his mind would not let him choose any other option, for he would be going against the very purpose he was created for.

“Fine. I’ll end this goddamn war but then I’m going home and I’m done forever. I want to have a family and be able to live long enough to see my children grow old, do you understand?” Shepard began to raise his voice a little, but when he was finished, he toned it down a notch and murmured an apology.

“That’s fine. One more war, Shepard,” and with that, the two shook hands upon their agreement, “Now, let’s head out into the lobby of Pride. You need to make an address. Say you’re taking command of Council forces to lead us to victory. For everything to go well, sorry Shepard, but we could use another one of Commander Shepard’s famous speeches.”

“I’ll do my best,” The two gave a thin smile to one another and then walked out of the infirmary and down to the lobby, where a hoard of different reporters had been waiting to hear from the Commander and, conveniently, a podium had been placed in the center of the room to allow Shepard to give a speech to the entire galaxy.

Shepard shook his head. He might’ve given speeches before. Speeches to whole armies, even. But the idea that he would have to address the entire galaxy and try to… what is he even trying to do? Reassure them things would be okay? Inspire them? Or would he end up making things worse?

Hell, all of the above could be a valid answer here. But that’s not the point. The point is that he was ordered by a superior to go do something. He was a soldier; he took orders. That was his job. And he’d done everything else they’d ask him to thus far. Why stop here?

Before allowing the elevator doors to open, Shepard and Hackett braced themselves for the incoming onslaught of press. Sam took the time to slap his head and face a couple times, bouncing on both feet a couple times, and then opening the door with a heavy thrust of his omnitool.

“Showtime.”

The reporters nearly rushed in, but security kept them back and wedged a pathway in through the crowd. Shepard tried not to pay attention to any of the people there; he focused on the podium. But he couldn’t help but notice that while there was a strong presence of media here, there were many soldiers from all walks of life. Turian, krogan, human, salarian, asari, human, and even otherwise. Shepard’s mind started reeling. He couldn’t just have a speech that would reassure people. Not with this military presence. Obviously a lot of people are relying on him to be their saving grace and, whether or not that’s a smart idea, he needed to at least pretend to be this inspirational figure. He had often been criticized for his crass and short behavior with other people, lacking a lot of tact. That part of him could not come into play now. No, he needed to be more than just Sam Shepard. He needed to be Commander Shepard.

Before long, Shepard arrived at the podium and climbed atop of it, where he stood above all the rest. The reporters were nearly climbing over each other to get something, anything from his lips. The military personnel had gleaming eyes, a kind of gleam reserved for men and women meeting their childhood heroes. The people there looked up to him as if he was some sort of messiah figure. It was overwhelming. Shepard was just some nerdy soldier from Vancouver. Not only did he not deserve all this, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted it. But that wasn’t his choice. He knew that.

“Please, quiet down everyone,” Shepard made the gesture with his hands to tell everyone to calm down, but nothing changed, “We should get on with the address!”

And with that, the military personnel located in the room moved forward as if ordered by some unknown force. They cleared the area around the Commander and kept the reporters and fans at bay. They were a respectful lot and just sat in silence as they waited for Shepard to speak. He gazed into the eyes of a few of the men in front of him, men that he would order off into battle soon and never know their names. Just like Marcus. He engraved the look in their eyes into his very soul. He would not forget them. He would not let their sacrifices be in vain.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Shepard cleared his throat. Hackett and a few others he had met around the place gave him stern, reassuring looks. He nodded their way and looked straight into the camera.

“My name is Commander Samuel Shepard of the Systems Alliance and Spectre Division,” He introduced himself as a formality, “And this is my second time cheating death.”

The crowd went a little hectic at that, nothing too serious, but a lot of excited murmurs were going around, even amongst the soldiers. Shepard ignored it. He could get caught up with thoughts about it or he could talk.

“Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that in the time that I have been gone, even after defeating a godly race of alien beings, we still do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am aware that I have come back to you in a time of need. In a time of fear and uncertainty. In a time of war. In a time where people need heroes. But I do have some bad news for you all. I do not believe in heroes. Everyone has different shades to them. But yet, people still turn to me and call me as such. So while people need heroes, I am no hero, I try as best that I can, and that is all I can offer you at present."

Shepard stares off into the crowd, who are hooked on to on every one of his words.

“While I do wish I could have come back sooner, I realize that I have come right on time. And I speak to the people when I say that my one passion in life has been to protect the good people of this galaxy no matter what life throws in my way. So, to aid the cause of a speedy recovery, I have pledged my efforts to the people and have taken command of Council forces,"

As he said this, the crowd cranked up the volume and began yelling things at random. Snapshots taken from cameras lit up the Commander’s face as a news feed was broadcasted everywhere in the galaxy.

“But now, I look to the brave men and women that stand before me who have pledged their own efforts to the people. The military. Now, having been involved in wars against pirates, Geth, Collectors, xenophobic militants, and Reapers, I can, unfortunately, confidently say that many of the soldiers in this room and watching this broadcast today… will die.”

Somewhere off in the galaxy, an old friend of Shepard’s, a soldier in his own right, squinted his eyes as he reached up to stroke the scars he had gotten on Omega. His expensive, worn down suit had a blue hand placed upon it.

Shepard shifted uncomfortably, but he stood tall amongst the masses.

"I have come to learn the gravity of a statement like that. Before, the deaths of many… it was a statistic. It didn’t matter to me. Death became a tragic factor only when I was staring it down. But now I see that when a man such as I says something like that, it means that thousands of families, millions of friends, and billions more will be affected by each and every loss. Potential politicians, world-shakers, and heroic soldiers will never realize their potential. Overall, our galaxy will be a worse place after this war is done. It’ll take time to recover. We all must be patient.”

A large councilman stares at the monitor in awe, seeing his old friend deliver a speech so nostalgic he felt almost exactly as he did before they all made the trip to Ilos. He stroked his red plates with one hand and sat back in his seat, letting the charismatic words of the Commander wash over him. At his side, his most trusted, genetically bred soldier wearing white armor smirks at the speech. That was the Shepard he knew.

“But regardless of all of that, it is no excuse to lie down and die like cowards,” Shepard clenched his fist and placed it gently on the podium, “We have spent years fighting off threats that could’ve potentially ended all traces of intelligent life. And we did it successfully. This is a rebellion, a mere uprising. We will be resilient. We will prosper. We will not surrender. This is our home and we will fight to defend it.”

A sworn enemy of Commander Shepard’s, the Batarian wearing combat armor stood away from the monitor even while his men crowd around it, shaking in their boots at the mere passion of this man. Their enemy. And this Batarian fumes in fury.

Now, instead of placing his fist on the podium, he dropped it with a hard thump.

“We will not allow this to end everything we’ve built up for thousands and thousands of years. We will not take our fate lying down. We will stand tall together. We will stand up and fight. We will wage war upon those who would threaten the dream to have peace in our time!”

A mysterious dark figure’s glowing eyes do not move from the broadcast for even a second. The figure does not blink nor does it do anything else other than pay attention to Commander Shepard’s words.

Shepard slammed his fist on the podium.

“We will not go gentle into that good night!”

A hardened soldier, with the men and women of the Citadel, look up at the monitors all around them, entranced by what they were hearing. His right hand man in his newly appointed N7 armor starts banging his feet against the floor. The Australian goddess and her colleague’s family did the same. The hardened soldier’s blue, Spectre-issued armor rustles as they all begin a slow, but increasingly loud cheer.

Shepard slammed his fist on the podium, louder.

“We will rage!”

The people of Omega watched the countless transmissions of the broadcast. Most couldn’t care less, if we’re to be honest, but there were some that did. A powerful Asari smirks in recognition at the voice, a thief with a graybox nodded her approval, and an older mercenary whispered the words that he had said to Shepard at one point, “Rage is a hell of an anesthetic, that’s for sure.”

Shepard slammed his fist on the podium once more, with more passion than he had ever hit something in his life.

“Rage!”

A tried and true warship sailed amongst the stars, with every crewmember screaming their applause and happiness for their long-lost Commander who finally came back to them. A doctor gently smiled at the picture of her old friend, a comm specialist yelled out in happiness, and a group of engineers all jumped up and down together like children. He was back. This time for good.

Shepard passionately tossed the podium aside and stood on the elevated platform, pointing down at the floor as he shouted out his final line.

“Rage against the dying of the light!”

The galaxy seemed to shake as it all erupted with cheers, angered cries, and worried yelps. Commander Shepard was back. And no one knew that more than a woman sitting in a starship, watching the transmission in awe as she broke down in tears under her mask. Her man was home. Her man was back. Tali’s Shepard… has come home.

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
